The Whispering
by AlternateMirai
Summary: He created a small hope, one that was forgotten by its failure and hated for its future success. They found themselves stuck in that world again, as the only people that could save it. The burden they unwillingly forced upon themselves started a new turn of events, a growing hope. Time Travel fic.
1. Chapter 1: Reality

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto.**

 **Pairings: Shino/Shikamaru, Sasuke/Sakura, more undecided.**

* * *

 **Chapter 1: Reality**

They stood there, motionless, in a desolate valley, grass stained with the blood of their comrades.

Weary eyes set straight ahead of them, unable to look away from the bodies of those who were standing the very day before, both friend, foe, and villager, living a life that was no longer there.

Everyone they had ever known and loved, gone, whether it happened seven years ago, or that very day. They were alone in a world that had no place for them, left to wait, wait until they could leave as well, and reunite with them in a world of neverending dreams.

There was no hope of winning the war from the very beginning, he knew that. And now, with only two people left on their side of the fight, the chances had just dispersed from existence.

Yet they were still at it, though neither he nor his dear brother, Shikamaru, could see why.

They were much too weak to defeat him

They were just small ants against him.

But both of them were feared shinobi, their names written in every bingo book.

And Madara stomped over them with little to no effort.

They had not spoken, not uttered the smallest word since it had ended, since that dreadful war was finally over. They could not speak because there was nothing that could be said, nothing to take away the pain they were feeling that ripped away at the last bits of their hearts.

He could hear himself. He was screaming, not physically, but he could hear his voice in his head, yelling, almost crying. So loud he was lightheaded. He could hear the calls for the dead, and the pleas to just let him die, instead of making him suffer like this.

But all the world ever gave him was suffering, hardships that took all his willpower to sweep under the rug and pretend that he didn't care, that he was okay.

That stopped three years before, when he gave up, more aggravated than tired of his facade. He couldn't stand to see that goddamned smile on his face. He despised his audacity to smile in that world.

He remembered all those times as a kid, overly confident in his skills, and believing that he could protect the people around him. He was ignorant to the reality of life back then.

He learned the truth the hard way.

The corpses were laid neatly side-by-side, every one of their bodies moved with careful respect for their lost lives.

But that meant by no means that they cared for their enemies. No, the only reason they were there as well, was because they wanted to clean see the calm hill that they used to spent so much time on. They wanted to clear in of those disgusting traitors.

There was hardly time to build a proper pyre, forcing them to make one large bed of flammable things.

He moved his shaky legs, injured from the last battle, walking to one end of the makeshift pyre, letting himself see the faces of everyone there.

The first many were people he didn't know, starting with enemies, and then civilians he had not met personally.

He stopped at the very first body, the only person on they pyre he was close to. Shino.

He was their closest friend, his second brother. They had always been together, him and his brothers. They weren't caught without each other's company once unless they were in the middle of a battle.

He was with them until the very end of his life.

His body was covered in cuts, dried blood caked all over him. The most noticeable wound was the wide slash running from his left shoulder to his right hip, deep enough to see his blemished organs. The whole right side of his face was covered in a third-degree burn, his skin peeled off, allowing him to see his cheekbone, scorched and covered in blood.

The three of them weren't just brothers, though they called themselves that. They were closer than family.

He walked away.

The many were people he didn't know, starting with civilians he had not meet personally, and then the enemies they had purposely placed the furthest away from Shino.

He stopped again at two familiar people, laying next to each other. His expression turned to a sneer.

Haruno Sakura.

Uchiha Sasuke.

The names of the two who betrayed Konoha. One for revenge, and the other, for _love._

Sasuke, someone he once thought of as a best friend, defected from his home village. To think that once, so many years ago, he thought of that man as a friend, someone he could lean on in times of need. To think that he believed he could bring that man back, or that she would abandon her home for nothing but being close to him.

Oh, how ignorant he once was.

Sakura, the very one who placed the burden of that god forsaken promise on his shoulders, also abandoned them.

The pain, the torture that woman caused the three of them when she killed Chouji, it was still there, a wound never to be healed.

He could still see her grin as the kunai plunged into chouji's neck, the glazing of his eyes as his life was lost, Sasuke clapping, telling Sakura that she did great and if she killed Kiba as well, he would let her come with him.

She did.

They had been too shocked to move, their heads still trying to process what happened, _why_ she would do that. And because of that, they watched Kiba's head roll, his blood splattering on their faces, their hands, until it changed into a river, no longer squirting.

Blood they never managed to wash from themselves, even when they were clean.

It stayed, reminding them of their failure.

After their death, they had never been the same, Shino and Shikamaru especially.

They vowed later, that they would never allow themselves to be caught off guard like that again. They didn't.

But that didn't stop them from getting stuck, unable to move as they watched others die.

They would have been able to save them if they weren't so weak.

And now it was too late…

He moved away, heading back to Shikamaru. The man was unmoving, staring at their dead brother without so much as blinking. His eyes were dark, all faith that they could win fully diminished, leaving regret and agony behind.

The same eyes he had.

"Shikamaru…" he said, calling the man's attention to him.

"Yes, Hokage-sama?" Shikamaru didn't turn, still watching Shino.

His heart clenched seeing his brothers like this, one dead, while the other was mourning the death.

He steeled his heart. There was no room for showing emotion as a shinobi, much less Hokage. It would lead much more to their deaths if he wasted his time lamenting, just like so many others did.

With both an emotionless expression and voice, he continued. "It's time."

The man flinched, though the reason, he wasn't sure.

With a nod, they walked to the pyre. He crouched down, placing a seal on it. He gave a quick look to Shikamaru, seeing him looking back at him. A bitter smile made it's way to his face as he activated the seal, starting a fire that spread quickly over every body.

They only moved far enough away that they wouldn't get too burnt by the inferno.

Both their eyes were on their deceased brother as the flame nipped away at his skin, slowly peeling it off. Neither bothered to watch the two traitors burn to their own hell, only wanting to get their last looks at their brother.

The smell of burning flesh didn't bother them, only added to the picture.

Eventually, the meat and blood of the dead had fully incinerated, leaving blackened bones behind the fire.

They didn't bother to set the fire out as it spread to the ground.

"Hokage-sama…" Shikamaru started.

He looked over to the man, his comrade in arms.

"I… I'm not... " he tried again.

Before he could finish, Naruto had already pieced together what his subordinate was trying to say and answered. "We're done," he said. "There isn't anymore meaning to this war," he said, voice giving away not the slightest emotion.

His brother looked at him, a thin frown plastered on his lips as he nodded.

There was a sudden pain in his left hand, causing him to lift it to his face to find the problem. He absently noted Shikamaru doing the same with his own hand.

He squinted, the fire and the now darkened sky mixing to make it all the harder to see his hand. Soon he noticed the slight glowing of a seal they had engraved into their hands. Circular, many small pentagrams lining the outside of it, while the inside was lined with many words, too small to read. The center had a lotus flower resting inside.

He had to say, he really forgot about that seal for a few years. He remembered he used to call it a 'new hope'. Wasn't it the result of some kind of time travel delusion he had? Honestly, he didn't really remember.

Sighing, he lowered his hand, ignoring the river of pain that was flowing into his senses.

Strange enough, as the fire grew closer to them, he was getting colder, like he was covered in snow.

He raised an eyebrow at this, turning to see if Shikamaru was feeling it as well. Judging by the look from him, he assumed that he was.

Then, as quick as it came, it was gone, and before he knew it he had passed out.

* * *

Black…

It was all black.

He gazed around the strange space again, reminding himself that his eyes were, in fact, open.

All around him was pitch black, not anything being seen. Strange enough, he didn't mind. It was calm, he was calm, his whole body was calm, as if it were perfectly relaxed.

It was different, soothing to rest himself, who trained himself to be battle ready at a very moment's notice, even while sleeping.

He leaned his head back into the luke-warm ground, absently noting that he was laying down.

He then observed that smallest streak of light (that he was sure wasn't there earlier) above him, gradually growing longer and wider, as if it were a door.

He shut his eyes quickly, the sudden light shooting into his eyes uncomfortably. Moments later, he willed himself to open them again. Had that been an attack, he would have been dead already.

Focusing, he saw two sides, split apart in the middle, one pure white while the other, the one he was in, pitch black. There was no light streaming into the dark side and no shadow of the light.

Seeming to defy gravity, there was another figure on the white side, as if lying on its upside, though facing down.

As he studied the figure, he noticed the mistaking similarities of the person -boy to his own self, though younger, and wearing the same clothes he did when he was twelve.

A line of green, glowing and traveling out from inside him, caught his eyes. He looked down at himself, seeing that green light seeping from his body and floating away in strings. Looking up, he noticed the same thing happening from the boy.

Strangely enough, the streams did not meet each other in the center like he had expected, no, they met further on the black side, the many strands swirling around each other before mixing into a small circle growing as more entered and eventually shaping into a lotus flower.

It was green and pulsing but seemed to be dim, even as more joined.

He watched it, the constant fluctuation of the lotus hypnotizing him into a deep slumber.

* * *

Naruto heaved a long, though silent, sigh, lowering his head into one hand as the words replayed in his head, again and again, trying to fully comprehend it.

"You're telling me…" he said, looking back up at Shikamaru. "That we, in some way or another, traveled back in time..?"

Shikamaru gave him a bland look. "Yes, exactly," the man, now in the body of a twelve-year-old, replied. "It seems that your seal really worked. It's the only real explanation for the weird dream that we both had, our younger bodies, the burning we felt on our hand's earlier, and the… _missing name's_."

He glared at the ground. "So it doesn't work when I supposedly 'activated' it, and then, suddenly, _years_ after I got over that ridiculous fantasy, not to mention _forgot about_ it, it brought us back to the past." A bitter smile graced his face. "It's laughable, really."

He stood from his previous cross-legged position on the ground, not the slightest slouch in his form. Shikamaru did the same, moving to stand just a bit behind his Hokage.

"No," Naruto started again. "it's goddamned troublesome," he growled out, cursing himself for making that seal. He had no desire to keep living, nor fight anymore. Not to mention that, but he knew exactly what it meant to go back, it meant they were going to see people that were long dead without freaking out.

And he would have to be on the same team as _them._

Acting like there was nothing wrong and that they were innocent children, would be, without a doubt, impossible, even for him, who had acted his whole life.

"Exactly," Shikamaru said, thinking the same as him.

Sighing again, he read the name's on the stone they had woken up beside, feeling it much too empty without the name's that had been added during the war.

"Damn it." He clenched his fists, nails digging into his skin. "Goddamnit. I fucked this up."

Sighing, Shikamaru looked at him, placing a hand on his shoulder. "At least we might be able to save some of them," the man/boy tried to comfort.

He didn't look back. "You may be right about that, but… Truthfully, I'm -no, we're tired of fighting. I know you feel the same as I do. You don't want to see people close to you die again…"

There was no reaction from Shikamaru, only a darkening of the eyes.

"We both know that neither of us wants to be here. You're done, you're tired of all this, having to live the way you did." He paused. "You have no point to life anymore."

The hand on his shoulder tightened as the man/boy protested. "No! You're still here."

"But really, what does that help?"

"You're still here," Shikamaru growled.

He ignored him. "And now, when you thought it would be over, I fucking slammed you into the goddamned past."

"Fucking listen to me," Shikamaru snarled, letting his, what he called, 'inner anger' out. "You are my brother. I'll follow you anywhere. And you didn't shove us here on purpose, so get your head out of the gutter and get over it."

Naruto glared at him. "Stop acting like me."

"Stop forgetting that you exist," Shikamaru accused back.

"Drop the damn act," he continued.

"Only when you acknowledge that people care about you."

Naruto turned away, walking to the forest close by. "Fuck off."

Shikamaru followed. "No," he snapped, clenched fists at his sides.

They walked deep into the forest, stopping by a large tree, roots creating a sort of shelter. They both crawled in it, still having much space, taking their respective spots beside each other, both lying down to try and realize that they really were back.

They had gotten over their little 'spat' only a minute after leaving into the forest, back to their closeness. Their fights never lasted more than an hour.

They both closed their eyes, neither planning on returning to their homes until they were more prepared.

* * *

Yoshino sat nervously at the table, fighting uncontrollably as she sent worried glances towards the door every five seconds without fail.

Her head fell in despair every time the door was left unopened, her eyes glistening with a familiar wetness.

On the other side of the table sat her husband, Shikaku, not showing his anxiety nearly as much as her, though still noticeably so, much unlike his usual self.

Shikamaru had usually come home before the sun was down, so when he wasn't there by night, they had been worried. They both went out, searching for their son, asking friends of his if they'd seen him, then his teacher, and eventually, random people. When they found not a trace of him, they were scared out of their wits, her especially.

They had later returned home, waiting another hour, then searched around the village a second time. The both of them had repeated that process two more times, then decided they would wait for the rest of the night.

He never came.

It was an early seven in the morning, just an hour before the academy would start. They were planning to go there, see if their son would show, and ask Iruka again if not.

Yoshino was on the verge of crying. Never had her son been so late to come home, and he always told them if he was going somewhere. But now, he was gone. Nowhere to be found. She hadn't the smallest idea where he was. For all she knew he could have been kidnaped, or even dead.

He was a bright kid, a very smart child. He _was_ a Nara after all. He knew not to approach anyone dangerous until he had real training as a shinobi, she drilled that into his head. But even then, he was still strong enough to take on someone.

That only made it worse for her. To know that, supposing he'd encountered someone bad, they were powerful. Otherwise, her baby would be home.

She knew that there was no chance that Shikamaru was out doing something 'bad'. He had never been the type, usually dubbing all that stuff 'troublesome'. And even if that was what was going on, people would have seen him walking around the village, going into a shop, or someone's house.

But there was nothing.

He may not have been missing for long, though still a long while, but both she and Shikaku knew that _something_ must have happened to him, especially since nobody had seen him. It was a parent's intuition.

The clock struck eight and the two of them were up in an instant, their eyes holding a small bit of hope that their child would be at the academy, and might have spent the night at a friends house and forgot to tell them, though they did ask every one of his friends (which were few, because it was 'troublesome to make friends' as he once stated to them)

They arrived at the academy in a quick ten minutes, holding each other's hands as a sign of reassurance.

Walking inside, they were meet with a woman sitting behind a desk. She smiled softly at them. "How may I help you?" she asked.

Yoshino bit her lip, letting Shikaku answer for her. "We need to talk to Iruka."

The woman nodded. "Do you know where his classroom is?"

"Yes," he answered.

"Alright then. Just go on ahead."

They nodded to her before continuing their walk in an anxious silence. They stopped at the door they knew Iruka would be teaching behind.

Shikaku opened the door, neither caring that they were interrupting class. They both peered into the room, catching the confused stares of many children and a teacher.

Their search for their child ended as a failure.

"Can I help you?" and Iruka, a worried smile on his face.

"May we speak with you."

"Of course." Iruka turned to the class. "Alright, why don't you study for your upcoming test while I'm busy." The kids groaned though went to work.

Yoshino walked out of the room, both men following.

* * *

Iruka had been earlier informed that Shikamaru was missing, and, being the worrying teacher he was, he had searched for the boy as well. He wasted hours asking around, jumping roof to roof to search for him.

There was no sign of the boy.

When he had collapsed back in his house, not even a wink of sleep blessed him, keeping him up the whole night worrying. He had lied in his bed, staring at the ceiling for hours, thinking of just where his student would be.

When class started the next day, he had hoped that his parents had found him, and he would be there. But, seeing the empty seat where the boy always sat, he knew that he wasn't. Shikamaru was _always_ early, though it seemed out of character for him, and if he wasn't there by the time he was, then he wasn't coming at all. The only students that were not there were him, and Naruto.

He had made a mental note to visit Naruto later that day, knowing that the only times he was gone, was when he got a pretty bad beating from the villagers.

He couldn't do anything but visit him...

He started teaching the class as usual, but his thoughts were nowhere near what he was teaching.

Sakura raised her hand, calling his attention.

"Yes, Sakura?"

She lowered her hand. frowning. "Is something wrong, Iruka-sensei? You look really worried."

He smiled at her. "It's nothing you need to concern yourself with," he answered. He wasn't going to tell them until later, either when Shikamaru was back, or if he'd been gone too long. But right now, there was no real point to informing them.

Sakura continued staring at him, joined with most of the other children, clearly unhappy with his answer.

They'd be more unhappy if he told them.

His heart dropped when Shikamaru's parents appeared, an open door behind them. There would only be two reasons that they were here, and he didn't like either of them.

One, Shikamaru wasn't found, and they were searching for him here.

Two, they found the boy, but he was in no condition to come to class, whether it was physical, mentally, or emotionally.

He prayed that that wasn't it.

He could see the dread in Yoshino's eyes when she didn't see her son and the troubled look on Shikaku's face. So he could assume that he was still gone, but he didn't know anything until they answered.

"Can I help you?" he asked, trying his best to make his smile look normal and not panicked.

Shikaku was the one that answered, his voice sounding unnaturally hoarse and so much unlike his usual 'lazy' personality. "May we speak with you?"

He bit his lip. "Of course." Turning to the class, he was a variation of emotions running through their faces, mostly confusion and concern. "Alright, why don't you study for your upcoming test while I'm busy." He ignored the wines, leaving the room with the two so they could get some privacy, closing the door softly behind them.

"Did…" he paused. "Did you find him?"

They shook their heads.

He dropped his head, a silence fitting in for a few agonizingly long minutes.

He felt like such a failure, not being to find one child. Not only that, but _his_ student. As his sensei, it was his job to protect the boy, but he wasn't helping, only hoping.

"If he doesn't show today…" he said. "You should go to Hokage-sama, set a mission…" It would be much easier to have the help of some other shinobi, than just them alone.

They nodded. "Yes…"

He clenched his fists. "I'll keep my eyes out for him…"

"Thank you," Yoshino spoke for the first time, her voice cracking as she covered her eyes with her hands.

"Good luck…"

* * *

Shino watched curiously as his sensei exited the room, a frown hidden behind his collar.

Something was wrong, even an idiot could tell that much.

He saw the glances Iruka kept sending to the empty seat Shikamaru usually sat in, and the same thing with the Nara's parents when they arrived.

He could only assume that something had happened to the boy.

"I wonder what's wrong," he heard a voice say. Looking over, he saw Kiba and Ino whispering to each other.

"Yeah… Shikamaru's parents seemed really troubled. Maybe he's sick or something."

He raised an eyebrow. Nobody would be that worried if he was sick, unless he had something life threatening. But it didn't feel like that was what was going on.

He could have been injured, possibly.

He wasn't sure… He would find out eventually anyway. He just hoped it wasn't too serious.

Shikamaru was… interesting. Most saw him as a lazy kid, but he could see the hidden fire in his eyes, the way he lifted one side of his head when it was on the table to hear the lesson better. He saw how the Nara watched other spars intently, grasping the technique the best he could. There was no better was than to say the Shikamaru was, in fact, a prodigy in the making, if not one already.

He was amazing, really. Someone intent on learning, becoming a shinobi, while making just about everybody underestimate him. It was truly an astounding scheme.

His musings were cut short when Iruka returned, the man's head hanging low as he walked back.

And now he was more curious.

* * *

 **Cool, first chapter over.**

 **So, as you probably saw above, I'm pairing Shino and Shikamaru, and I'm also going to give Naruto one, but I'm not really sure, so please tell me who you'd like him to be with!**


	2. Chapter 2: Illusion

**Rating:** **T**

 **Word count:** **6.7k**

 **Warning:** **Language and graphic violence (?)**

* * *

 **Chapter 2: Illusion**

Shikamaru peaked out the dark alley, his muddy brown eyes surveying the area, confirming with both sight and sense that there was nobody nearby.

He sighed silently and quickly ran through a few hand seals, applying a modified Henge onto himself. One that was impossible to recognize as an illusion. Because it wasn't an illusion. It was truly _him_ that had that appearance. That was the truth that came from the Oiroke no Jutsu, and he was amazed that Naruto had created such a golden technique as that at a young age.

He changed into a simple traveler, his hair turning a light chestnut and eyes just a bit darker. Behind him, another puff of smoke made itself known as a ten-year-old, dark brown haired kid, also known to him as Naruto. He eye-smirked, grabbing Naruto's hand and pulling him up onto his back as the father he was posing as would for his 'sleeping' kid.

A sigh escaped his mouth leaving him wondering again why he was the one that had to carry instead of being carried. "You look like a hot adult, while I'm just a big bundle of cuteness as a child" Naruto had said, giving a smirk. To him though, it was just a bullshit excuse. And, personally, he knew for a fact that Naruto was very good looking as an adult.

As he walked through the streets of Konoha the population grew and he averted his eyes from everything.

(He wouldn't be able to look at his home with panicking and most probably crying. He felt so unable to do anything for that village. The very thought that he was walking through a place he failed to protect made him with he could have curled up in a ball and never move again for fear of possibly failing again. He wished so bad that he could have just _died_ that day, that he could sleep forever.)

It took him a good hour to reach the gates without being able to run ("no civilian would be able to run as fast as they did", he supplied himself whenever he got the urge to go faster.), which gave him a good reason to want to punch his brother when they were alone again.

Luckily for them, when they reached, the guards on duty were asleep. (He inwardly fumed at how relaxed and unconcerned they were with the peace after the war.) Another luck was that neither Kotetsu nor Izumo were there. He didn't care enough to feel sorry for the people that would soon be in a shitload of trouble for letting a random stranger enter and leave the village without them noticing. He would, however, have to deal with caring if he knew them personally. He could be a bit grateful for that at least.

He strolled out of the village of the hidden leaves casually, continuing to walk until he was far enough away. Heaving an aggravated sigh, he dropped Naruto to the ground without warning, fully savoring the small yelp that sounded from the boy as he hit the hard ground.

Naruto growled at him after standing up. "I hate you," the Henged boy said.

He raised an eyebrow. "I think that I have more of a right to hate you."

Naruto narrowed his eyes in displeasure. "I was fell _asleep_."

"I was walking," he shot back, logging in the back of his head how childish the two of them were acting to think about later. "For _hours_."

"Whatever." A plume of smoke erupted over Naruto and an orange clad boy popped back out as it dispersed,

Giving each other slight nods, they shot out deeper into the trees to continue their training.

They didn't have much time to waist. They needed to get stronger before they returned to Konoha.

Before they had to meet the dead again.

 **IXI**

Far outside the village known as the Hidden Leaf, deep inside a cave hidden away from the world, a dark energy flowed out of two short figures.

They stood next to each other, completely silent. Their lips were pressed into a frustrated frown, and eyebrows furrowed in anger. With eyes narrowed into a deep scowl and arms crossed, neither realized that they were perfectly taking up the image of an Uchiha.

Nara Shikamaru and Uzumaki Naruto were brooding.

Years of torture they put themselves into so they would be strong enough to protect the people they cared for, countless Jutsu they had created, _perfect_ chakra control, fists that rivaled Tsunade's, all the time they used to become as powerful as they did and all the strength that came with it… it _all_ went down the drain.

The only thing that they managed to take back with them was their memories. Only their memories. That meant that, as Shikamaru said, they had the mind of a child. The problems that came with that were many. A child couldn't handle all the horrors they'd seen. There were so many mental problems that could come from being subjected to that war., and they could only hope that their luck was enough to get them out of those issues.

(But he knew that he had no luck. He didn't want to believe in luck anymore. He preferred it didn't exist than know that he was excluded from that luxury. That maybe, if he'd been better, if he was stronger, that he would have had that luck, and he would be able to use it. If he had luck, maybe people could have been saved.)

And though he didn't want to admit it, they both had already seen the changes. They got easily frustrated or depressed, but they never had bouts of happiness. It wouldn't have meant much to them if it was just Shikamaru, he was naturally lazy, and if anything, it would be more surprising if he did get 'hyper'. But with him, he had been a loudmouth knucklehead. And since it was the 'kid's' mind, they easily realized that they were having problems. And for all they knew, it would probably get worse when they returned to the village.

They wouldn't be able to defeat -no, _kill_ Madara with their condition (whatever it was), they had to be stronger. Much stronger.

A sudden thought crossed him that made his scowl sharpen. Busy with training, he'd never checked if Kurama had come with.

'Kurama!' he called, waiting a good minute. There was no answer.

He growled. Either the fox was sleeping, or he had to deal with trying to get on good terms with him again.

"Damn it…" He mumbled to himself.

It made sense that the fox wouldn't have returned with him, that much he could admit. But had his mind truly been so clouded back them that he forgot to make sure to take his dear friend with him? Had he been that _stupid?_

He wanted to bash his head against something, and he probably would have, had he been closer to the cave walls. He didn't feel like wasting his energy to walk there. Truthfully, he didn't feel like doing _anything_. He had no interest in training, nor anything else he always did. He only wanted to lie down somewhere secluded and sleep.

When was the last time he really slept, though? He'd always been busy either fighting or working to get enough food for his shinobi to survive. He remembered half passing out every night he got back to his tent.

(A tent he once shared with his brothers. The only place he truly felt… secure.)

Another sigh and he wiped his mind of all thought, his only purpose at that very moment was to train, so he would do that. He lifted his hand again to try and perform the Rasengan.

Shikamaru watched him do so with a small smile and quickly followed his brother's example.

 **IXI**

Iruka didn't want to admit how much he was affected by this. How the danger of just one of his students had changed his very life-style.

Just two weeks before, he was able to tolerate children. He loved them. But with all the exhaustion, of which he had mostly inflicted upon himself, he couldn't handle the… obnoxiousness of them.

For the second time in his life, the first being when he was still getting over the death of his parents and hated pretty much everything, he was truly irritated by children.

(Something in the back of his mind told him that he was wrong for even thinking the slightest of murderous thoughts towards them, but he pushed that away, reminding himself that he was allowed to think whatever the hell he wanted.)

"Class dismissed," he said firmly, his bagged eyes roaming irritably over the kids that ran excitedly out of the room, all of them more than ready to have fun the rest of the day, or some crap like that, he assumed. He slumped in his chair with a sigh, muscles relaxing a bit in the soft cushions. He closed his eyes, planning only to sleep, he could grade their last two tests later. There was nothing on his internal calendar anyway, so he could he could relax, finally.

But life seemed to have different ideas, because, hearing the sound of small feet pattering closer to him, he realized that not everyone had left.

"Sensei," the voice called., it soft and strangely cradling,

(Though the reason for that might have been because of the voice, with its silently worried tone, reminded him so much of his father."

Re-opening his eyes he noticed that it wasn't just one kid in front of him, but four instead. After that, he realized that the one who spoke, of Sakura, Shino, Chouji, and Ino, was in-fact Shino, of who he'd never heard that tone of voice from, even if it was hardly noticeable.

"Yes, Shino?" He mentally pleaded to whatever god there was that this would be short.

The boy stared at him for a moment, not saying anything. He nodded at Sakura, who took the lead, her eyebrows furrowed in frustration. "Sensei, what's wrong? None of us, I'm sure, are really the counseling you need… " Iruka cringed slightly. Like _kids_ would be of any help. "But, we're worried, y'know." She twiddled her fingers behind her back, nervous.

He pushed a smile to his face. "It's nothing, really. Go back home."

To his aggravation, they stayed. "Sensei." This time it was Ino who spoke. "Where's Shikamaru? And where's Naruto? They haven't been here in a long time. Did something happen to them? That's why you're like this right?" She moved to the front the their little group, staring at him with pleading eyes.

He sighed. "Nothing. It's nothing. Shikamaru is just on a trip, and Naru-" his heart dropped to his stomach. No. _No._ Thinking back, he never went to check on his student. He'd completely _forgot._

"I have to go." He stood abruptly, giving no mind as he pushed past the kids.

"Sensei?" Ino called. He didn't bother to notice, only caring about the crisis on hand.

Running through Konoha, he felt a huge sense of self-hate well up in his heart, continually berating himself for being such an _idiot._ He was angry. And he had a feeling that it wouldn't be going away for a long time.

He came to an abrupt stop at his student's door, not having noticed he'd even made eit to the apartment building until he was standing right there. A blazing -something, he didn't know what it was, what he was feeling, it wasn't recognizable to him, drove him to open the dor before he had the chance to hesitate.

The door flung open in his hand, his head turning to both sides as he searched for the ball of sunshine.

Empty.

He took a step inside, followed by another. "Naruto!" His voice cracked at the end, breath shaky. The more steps had him in the middle of the small room. "Naru- Naruto?"

Then his mind filled with panic. He ran through the whole room, flinging the rest of the doors open. "Naruto! Where are you!? Naruto!"

Everything was empty, with not a single human life source other than himself.

He wasn't crying, but he was close to it. He thought of Naruto as his brother, sometimes his son. He was one of his most precious people, and he- he didn't even try to help with whatever happened, no. he forgot.

 **IXI**

Shikaku couldn't help it.

He'd been through many hardships, he'd seen many of his comrades die before him. That was the life of a Shinobi and he'd lived through it..

But he couldn't help it. For his son, of whom he cared for too much to express, to vanish like that, it was too much of a shock. He wasn't ready for that, and it hit him _hard_.

He always thought he had prepared himself well enough for the chance of his son ever dieing before him. But apparently, he failed.

Caressing the lip of his sake cup, he exhaled quietly. His eyes, rimmed with dark bags, the result of his stress, roamed the yellowish liquid inside his cup, hoping to find an escape deep inside it.

"Intelligence is nothing," he drawled out, rising the cup to his lips and pouring the contents of it into his mouth. Swallowing felt like a whole new dilemma. His throat rejected his favorite drink (just in-front of tea), causing a gag and in-turn almost made him spit out. Luckily for him, his hand had made it to his mouth before that happened and he successfully stopped the sake from flowing out of his mouth. He quickly triad again to swallow, this time accomplishing the task, and slammed his cup back down to the table.

A moment later he filled his cup again.

Just as he said, intelligence was nothing. It couldn't help him, It couldn't bring his son back. He was absolutely clueless on what happened. There was no evidence of anything. No sightings.

What happened? Where was he? Where was his Shikamaru? His son…

His head hung low, down to his shoulders. His slumped figure was that of a drunkard wanting to forget everything, exactly what he was…

He honestly couldn't help it. He was hit to hard to just stand right back up. So, instead of trying, and inevitably failing, he would lie there and embrace it.

"You seem to be in the depths of despair," a voice sounded beside him.

Despite not realizing someone had come up to him, he looked up with no sign of surprise. "...Inoichi."

The man gave a small smile, taking a seat beside him. "It's not often I see you like this. What's bothering you?"

He shot him a bland look, saying nothing.

His friend immediately sobered up. "Ino-chan is getting worried. Earlier today she asked if she could visit your compound and visit Shikamaru-kun. I don't think it's going to be long before she figures out," he informed, running a hand through his dirty-blond hair.

Shikaku nodded soberly.

Inoichi sighed. "I don't want to risk lying and say that Shika-kun will be fine, we don't know, but… lets try our best to make it truth, alright?"

Shikaku took in his old teammate's words as he drank his cup empty again.

What could he do more that hope?

But, as long as his child came home, he would always be there for him. He would be there whenever he was needed. That was the most he could do. But it was enough to live with, right?

"Yeah."

 **IXI**

Naruto lazily swing a stick around in his hand. An irked frown pulled on the corners of his lip as he repeated the words he'd been saying for about ten minutes. "Bibbity-bobbity-boo. Bring me magic paper and a brush too…" His enthusiasm of that had run out much earlier leaving his dry tone of voice.

"I swear my ears are bleeding. I said that as a fucking joke, just shut up _please_ ," Shikamaru begged, rubbing his temples as he spoke. "Why don't you _try_ to get those things instead of wishing for them to appear?"

"I don't want to move…"

"Yeah yeah. I know. Just shut up. Okay?" Shikamaru laid himself down on the rock ground of the cave. It was night and neither of them had the want to train, despite the fact that they knew they must, it was just too… troublesome. So they were going against everything they believed in the past.

But it their defence, they were doing something that would help them. Or trying, at least.

They needed to re-create seals. It was an easy task, considering Naruto had memorised every stroke of the seals he made… wait.

He returned his thoughts to the fact they only had memories. The process of memorising an action was seventy percent muscle memory and the rest was being able to _see_ the image in their mind. If he was correct, then…

He sat back up, pulling a kunai out of his tool pouch at the same time. Ignoring the fact that Naruto was eyeing him strangely, he carved his name into the rock. Despite the fact that it was one-hundred times harder to write with a kunai to rock, his handwriting was exceptionally good.

He brought his eyes to Naruto and held out his weapon to him while pointing at his name. "Write your name," he ordered.

His Hokage nodded, though clearly confused, and, kneeling down from the makeshift chair that had been created from them practicing with their jutsu, he took the kunai. The very first line he made was much too long then he suspected he was trying to make, it was curved, cut too deep, and jagged. The rest of them were the same.

The finished project ended as a bunch of lines that could hardly be recognized as letters on the ground. Naruto looked at him. "Maru, what's this supposed to do?"

He sighed. He really should have expected that he wouldn't get it, even if he didn't want to admit it, Naruto was a friggin' idiot as a kid.

He gestured to his own name, then back at his leader's. "Look at the difference. Clearly, you can't write. Now, I want you to think of what could happen when a seal is created and the lines overlap on each other, are not perfectly in the position required, the movement is jerky or rough, there's a splotch on the paper, or if there is an uneven amount of ink on the paper."

The blond haired boy paused for a monet. "An explosion… it could leak a poison, or whatever it's called, that causes chakra to become… dangerous to use." He clenched his fists. "I can't even remember fucking words!"

"It's not that you don't remember them. It's just that they're not part of your younger self's vocabulary, therefore leaving them as words your mind won't go to. Why not go through a dictionary later?" he offered. He felt a little bad for his brother losing that much. "Back to the subject on hand, now, look back at your name."

Naruto did just that, and a moment later, his eyes grew terribly wide. "Crap."

"Exactly."

His brother threw himself on the ground, an arm over his eyes as he groaned a long aggravated sigh.

It was obvious the Shikamaru, despite his brothers efforts to hide it, that Naruto's was crying, if not just teary eyed. He couldn't blame him either. Emotional stress did that to people. And, although it was troublesome to admit, he was the same.

 **IXI**

Naruto jumped back, dodging a punch to his abdomen. He launched forward, crouching low and sent a kick at Shikamaru's legs. Just a moment before it hit, Shikamaru jumped up, another kick this time aimed at his head. He leaned his head to the side, just barely missing the blow. They both flew back, landing on their feet and back in a fighting stance.

He took a hoarse breath, wiping sweat from his forehead, and sprung up again, grabbing Shikamaru's arm and throwing him to the ground. Before he could do more damage hands gripped his head and a knee landed in his face. He fled back.

"Maru… that hurts," he whined, poking at his nose.

His brother scratched the back on his head, smiling apologetically. "Sorry, Naru… Just think of it as pain tolerance training."

He raised an eyebrow. "Yeah, whatever."

"Why not take a break and work on Fuinjutsu. I don't think i'll be able to stand much longer anyway," Shikamaru said.

Naruto looked down at his brother's legs, noticing they were shaking slightly. "Sure." He himself could go for hours if it was a matter of only using his legs. How else would he be able to run away from ANBU? Shikamaru never had worked extremely hard as a child, finding it to be 'troublesome'. Of course, he still trained a lot with his father. And truthfully, Naruto hadn't been very much in shape either.

After they had gathered the tools needed to practice they sat and prepared to work on their handwriting. Shikamaru decided it would be best for him learn more of the art. The more techniques the better.

They didn't have the proper supplies, but they made due with sticks and dead grass for the brush, mud for the ink, and stone for the paper. It worked well enough for them.

He picked up his brush, gently swimming the bristles in the mud and brought it down to the rock, weaving a circle around. He then filed a lotus inside it and drew a smaller circle just above the other. He paused as the ink on his brush ran mostly empty.

What next? Tapping his finger, a thought struck him. Right. He needed to connect the two together. He added more ink in the brush and drew four symmetrical lines, two on both sides on the circle's and curved into the empty space between the two.

Now he had to represent the second circle as well as himself. He wrote his name inside the two lines on both sides. Around the smaller circle he wrote in the Fuinjutsu language "From the future world."

He smiled. It wasn't done yet, but it was going well so far. Looking up at Shikamaru he saw that he was practicing a fire seal. "Hey, Maru."

"Yeah?" he answered.

"Will you come inspect this for me? I want to make sure I'm not missing anything." Personally, he had to congratulate his idiot brain for even thinking of that.

"Sure. One moment." Shikamaru set his own brush down and pushed himself to his feet. Having walked a few steps up to him he looked over his shoulder and at the the seal. "Let's see… You've got the lotus, that's one of the most important keys to it. And the paths connecting the two worlds, as well as your name, which specifies from what in what of something to bring to this world, or rather, the past." He paused. "Looks good. Also looks like it's going to be one of those really big ones that's going to be a pain in the neck to create."

He gave a small grin and nodded. "Yes it is. But that's a good thing."

Shikamaru smiled back. "Means we don't have to go shopping for that stupid paper. Just infuse your chakra into the 'ink' and were good to go."

"Yup. Now, back to work."

 **IXI**

Kakashi knew that there were some times when he should never be late, moments that should never be risked.

Even the slightest mess-up on time, the things they would call a simple accident, could be the cause of many, many deaths.

He learned the high cost of that when he let Obito die, when Rin died. When he _killed_ her. It was his fault. And he knew, he knew that if he had just been a bit faster he would have been able to save them. They could have gone back to Konoha with only injuries. Rin's mother, the only family she had, would not have been sobbing until the very day she took her own life.

Even as the years passed he could still feel that guilt that weighed him down, the shame of allowing his teammates to meet their ends so prematurely.

He hated himself for it.

That was why, when he knew he must be, he was always there on time. He would _never_ neglect a mission of high importance, even at the price of not visiting Obito at the Memorial Stone like he did every morning. He would protect the people he must with his very life, whether he knew them or not.

Those where the things on his mind as he jumped roof to roof through Konoha, his fists tightly clenched, turning them pale.

He hadn't been late. He'd arrived perfectly on time to receive his mission, maybe even a minute early. He'd received the mission and even read it though a few times to make sure he wouldn't forget any details that could be important to finishing it. He had been assigned to find the Naras head's only son, the heir to the Nara clan, Shikamaru, and bring him safely back to his parents. And if he could, find where he was and what happened as well.

Immediately after being called to his objective, he had taken to hunt for the child. He had thought that he, having always been one of the best trackers, would be able to find him quickly. But…

he received that mission almost a month earlier.

He'd searched every nook-and-cranny, every corner, alley, he even resorted to inspecting _every single house_ in Konoha. There was nothing.

After the first five days he'd gotten permission to leave the village to search. He'd scouted within a one-hundred meter radius outside with no such luck of finding the young heir.

He hadn't been late. But he was still late. With every day that passed, the chances of the boy being dead or forever damaged went up, and when he found him, it would be too _late_.

He jumped down to the gates, giving a quick wave to those on guard as he hurriedly ran through the gate. They gave an apologetic smile to him, which he didn't bother to return. He sprung through the threes, summoning his Ninken while moving, they didn't even bother to ask what he needed, having already done the procedure many times. They pounced away, going on their own search.

By the time he let himself rest, the sun was setting. He leaned against a tree taking deep breaths through his mask. What he needed was sleep, but he gladly gave that up for the sake of the kid. Shikamaru probably needed so much more, like a family, right next to him. Twelve was still very young, despite what society taught.

A child would always be a child. A child would still be a child whether they were a trained killer, like most the population of all the Hidden Villages, or if they were an innocent civilian. And the young had such _feeble_ minds it could easily crack. And that was why they people close to them, to comfort them.

He needed that when he was young. Truth be admitted, he still did, but he could hide it.

(Maybe that what an adult truly was. A kid who learned the art hiding their hurt and their anger. Those could not were still young.)

He turned to lean his back on the tree, raising his head slightly and lidding his eyes. The soft breeze rustled the trees that surrounded him, a calming, meditative sound he would have liked to used to train. Not now, though.

Hurried thumps made itself known as something rushed up to him. He his visible eye open, seeing Pakkun prancing with amazing speed.

"Did you find something?" he questioned.

The Ninken panted. "F-found -found a-a-a trail! We finally found a track!"

Kakashi's eye widened and he lept up. "Lead me to it!"

 **IXI**

"Finally, It's done." Naruto grinned. Holding his brush, now oversized, as required for the size of seal he was making.

Shikamaru crept around the work of art, which had now been added to with a large amount of words that shikamaru couldn't yet read, due to only just barely bothering to learn it, but he recognized it talking about the future -information to chose the correct future-, past, and things that seemed random but he knew had much relevance to it, such as flower, unlit firefly, and such.

"Ya done?" he asked.

Naruto held a thumbs-up to him. "Finished."

"Can I come inside the seal, then?" He had tried earlier (he didn't even know why he tried), but, to make it simple, you don't interrupt a Fuinjutsu worshiper while they're on the job.

Though he was just happy he didn't get pummeled, unlike the first time he made that mistake. That in itself, though, reminded him of how, despite the memories, he still had a child's mid, genius or not.

"Go ahead," Naruto answered. "Just don't step on the ink."

"Hai, hai." He quickly weaved himself through the dried mud. They were both standing in the large circle, it wouldn't work otherwise. His own name had been added, right beside Naruto's.

"You ready to take a huge risk?" was Naruto's unnerving comment.

He nodded, both suddenly serious. The plan for the seal was to bring something from the future to them, their hopes were that it bring their later skills, some of it at least, but they could never be positive that that was how it would work out. They wrote their names to signify, as said earlier, from who or what to bring. The signature had to be written by the chosen people, though, as well as being the same signature. So, if it had changed over time, it would not work.

The face that they had used mad was already a risk in it's own, but that Naruto wasn't a master, their chakra would most likely be tainted, and they would either be incapable to use chakra for the rest of their lives, other than the Seven Gates (but that wasn't really using chakra), or be unable to use it for a long time. That, or they get caught in a huge explosion.

But it was a risk they would take.

"Then," Naruto said, crouching down and placing his hand in the middle of the large circle. "Shōrai no nusumi Fuinjutsu, activate!"

A moment later the world went black.

 **IXI**

A cave…

Pakkun strode forward with just barely visible hesitance, a few feet in-front of Kakashi.

Kakashi followed behind, taking in every detail of the cave as they went deeper and deeper into it.

"I smell him," his Ninken announced. "There's someone else there too."

His hand clenched in anticipation for what he would soon meet, he had to be prepared for anything.

"The second person smells a bit familiar." His eyed Pakkun as he said that. Someone familiar? Who would that be?

"Is there any distinct smell around them, the stranger especially?" he questioned.

"Blood," was the immediate answer.

He didn't like the sound of that.

He noticed a pile of boulders clumped up in-front of them and knew immediately that they were in there. He stopped, re-summoning the rest of his dogs and ordered them to help his move the boulders away.

It took about an hour on itself to move away most the rocks. Kakashi wrapped his arms around a boulder, digging his fingers into it for better grip. In one big heave, he threw the stone into a new-made pile.

The stench of blood met his nose harshly. He stared down at the small child lying before him. His right arm had been terribly crushed. His forehead was practically oozing blood, going over his eyes and dying his dark brown hair even darker. His stomach, as well as his ripped shirt, was crimson and a stream of blood seeped from slightly parted lips, indicating chest trauma.

He was late again.

Lifting his wrist he searched for a pulse. It was soft and slow, ten minutes away from stopping. The size of his wrist allowed him to notice how skinny the boy was.

He must not have eaten much in a while…

He gently picked up the boy, keeping him safe in his arms. He was merely reminded of Obito with the whole scene.

Then his eye caught sight of another body, a rock only just being removed from ontop his legs while his upper body covered by smaller, though still large, rocks. His legs, however, were unlikely to be used again, judging by how they were practically a _flattened_ jumble of bone, muscle, and blood.

He watched intently for who would be revealed as the finishing stones were taken away from him. He could tell from the length of the legs that it was a child, however.

The arms were mostly untouched, compared to Shikamaru's. His abdomen was flowing blood, from a small, though gaping wound to the side.

But it wasn't the pool of blood that massed around his head, from a drain that was once known as an eye socket, a rock plunged deep inside the socket, mashing the eyes itself beneath, it wasn't _that_ that made his heart plummet into an abyss. It was the whisker shaped scars along his cheek, and sunshine yellow hair matted his mud and blood.

Naruto was there too.

He roughly shook his head. He _needed_ to get them to a hospital, now!

He had one of his larger Ninken take Naruto on his back, telling him to be careful of damaging him more.

They shot back into the direction of the Hidden Leaf.

 **IXI**

At two in the morning, Yoshino and Shikaku were woken by the sound of knocking at their door. The two stood two steps higher than the Shinobi the was before them.

The Shinobi lowered his head slightly. "Nara-sama, Hokage-sama has sent me to inform you of the return of your son, Shikamaru-sama, as well as his hospitalization."

The two, who had been half asleep while listening, shot awake in an instant. "Please take us to his room, if you know which it is," Shikaku asked, though Yoshino thought it sounded more of a demand from her husband.

The Shinobi nodded. "Hai. I will be taking you to Hokage-sama, he will take you the rest of the way," he answered, running up a wall and jumping onto the roof, and continuing forward from that, Yoshino and Shikaku following closely behind.

She could begin to explain the feelings she felt then. It was a mixture of so many emotions, most of which she barely recognized. Most of all, she couldn't decide whither she was ecstatic for her Shika being found or horrified that he was in the hospital.

But what was he in the hospital for? She highly doubted he chances of an illness, but she didn't want to believe he had been injured. But even so…

She wanted to see him. How hurt was he? Was it bad? Would he be awake when they got there?

They landed just outside the doors of the Shinobi Hospital, where the Sandaime stood, his eyes lowered with grief.

"Sandaime-sama!" she shouted as she rand to him, not caring if she seemed a bit irreverent beside a hospital, or that she might have been acting a bit unrespectful. "Where's my baby!?"

He smiled softly at her, waving a hand to dismiss the Shinobi. "Follow me," he said. They did so, into the halls.

It was so sickeningly white and blue everywhere. As if they were preparing a sort of _heaven_ to be the first thing the dead see as a spirit. They were expecting people to _die._

When they had gone up three steps of stairs, Yoshino realized it.

The third floor was for those in critical condition.

Arriving, she dreaded the opening of the door and what was inside. But alas it opened and they all walked in.

Her only just twelve-year-old baby boy lay there, not even the slightest movement from him. His skin was so pale, as though already dead. There was an oxygen mask over his mouth, bandages wrapped around his forehead and the only arm she could see. His arm, also bandaged, had IVs in his wrist.

She found herself ready to throw up.

 **IXI**

When Shikamaru woke, he was immediately aware of everything that surrounded him. He kept his body still, unwilling to risk anything. He was in the middle of a war, after all.

He pushed himself to stay calm, taking in all the details he could. He was lying on something soft, but judging by the stiffness of his, it must be close to the ground. There was no bed-frame, with heavy blankets on top of him. He was lying on a futon.

Not the cot he'd grown so used to.

He knew at that moment, if he hadn't before, that something was very wrong.

Stretching out his senses, he took in that nobody was nearby. Thinking it was safe enough, he cracked his eyes open, strangely finding peace in the darkness that met his eyes. But he had no time to enjoy something. He had to get out.

He silently pushed himself to his feet, tapping his fingers against his leg as he inspected the room. He had to be careful.

But careful was the exact opposite of what he did next. He fell. His legs gave out on him, causing him to fall, but on the ground, hands holding him up. A massive wave of pain followed and he let out a strangled cry.

The first thought he had as he heard thumping footsteps hurrying towards him was that he slightly recognized the picture in front of him. What he didn't notice was that he was wrapped in bandages.

" _What has you so taken with this picture anyway?" he asked, his eyes roaming along the ink deer._

Despite someone having run into the room, he continued staring at the wall as the memories his him.

 _Shino tilted his head. "It is calming. My Kikaichuu can relax around it, because of the chakra infused into it. And… " he smiled softly. "I like deer."_

Oh. It was the painting he gave Shino.

But Shino… Shino… wasn't he…

Dead?

The person, who he not recognized as a woman, was keeling beside him. She was saying something, her eyes wide and hopeful. But he didn't hear anything.

And then his eyes widened. That woman, he knew her. That was his mother.

Dead. But she was dead.

His father was dead.

Everyone was… dead.

He stared at her, his dear mother, taking in her expression, as it morphed into a bloodied and crushed, no longer a refined face, but instead _mess_.

He clutched his head his hands.

Dead.

Dead.

Another figure made its way into the line of view. His dad, his tou-san.

He was dead.

They were all dead…

They were _supposed_ to be dead!

But, looking back at them, they seemed so, so real.

He screamed.

* * *

 **Every1's Beta:**

 **Thank you so much for this review, it honestly helped me plan a LOT of things as well as get back to writing this chapter.**

 **I guess I'll start with all the pairings that might work. (Btw I screamed of happiness when you said you didn't like Sasuke. Because seriously, EVERYBODY loves him, it's annoying really.)**

 **KibaNaru: This one's a possibility, though, I'm not exactly sure how to… uhh, what's that word… go along (?) with it.**

 **/ .. /**

 **GaaNaru: I can see this one working out very well with the story, for reasons that would be spoilers to say. Not mentioning Gaara in the first chapter was both an accident and… also forgot the word… stuck that way? In the beginning, I had worked pretty hard to mention everybody important, but after, seven drafts -and it still doesn't pass my inspection completely- I forgot most of them. Though you are still right about Chouji and Kiba hitting them the hardest.**

 **For the ones that won't work.**

 **NaruIno: Although this could happen, due to reasons you stated in your review, I'm not really a fan of any hetero shipments for Naruto (no, not even Hinata). That included, I'm also in love with InoChou (I don't know if you agree with me, but I just find it soo cute!).**

 **/ .. /**

 **ChouNaru: Already said the reason.**

 **/ .. /**

 **NaruHina: Again, as was said, I'm not a fan of NaruHina (which kind of sucks because it's friggin cannon! It's everywhere!) I don't actually have any other reasons other than the obvious ones that (again) were stated earlier by you.**

 **/ .. /**

 **NaruTema: Meh… Pretty much the same with Hina-hime.**

 **A few that were also suggested that I'm considering (cuz I feel like it would benefit to tell you?)**

 **KakaNaru: This one also works out really well, and it's the one I know how to do the best, cuz I've had this one the longest (I find the two of them really cute together… sorry if you don't agree… )**

 **/ .. /**

 **NejiNaru: It could happen…**

 **/../**

 **ShikaShinoNaru: It's the most likely, and my original idea. I didn't want to mention it at first because I was afraid that people would think a threesome was gross (or something like that), but people have asked me about doing that, which gave me my confidence.**

 **So, I'm the type of person who looks at the profiles of their reviewers, and anyway, even though I am a Sasuke hater, he will not be a complete jackass in this fic, nor will he be evil -this time over (sorry for spoilers). I'm not really the type to bash not completely exclude, so both Sasuke and Sakura have plenty of parts in here as well as having their redemption (though Naru and Shika will forever hate them. There's no way they could see those two as even friends after what they did, it's not realistic). So.. yeah… I feel like I'm rambling. (I'm really sorry if I somehow offended you by saying that! I would hate to turn you away from this fic because of this! I hope this story can live up to your expectations, so, I apologize.)**

 **Also, I am a huge pushover, so thank's for the support!**

* * *

 **vskylight: male preferred.**

* * *

 **Anjel: Thank you.**

 **Did the Naras and the Inukazas know each other well? I might have missed something, sorry…**


	3. A Few Words

A few words

It's been a while, hasn't it. Yeah, yeah, I know. A couple of months isn't _that_ long, and I _would_ waited longer, like you guys wanted… hehe, but, well, I wanted to be rebellious, so I did this instead!

.

So guess what!?

.

.

.

This fanfiction is now DISCONTINUED!

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..

…

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That was a lie!

Nah, i'm just rewriting the first chapters that are actually out. I noticed sooooo many problems with the chapters you guys read, it I realized that I wouldn't be capable of doing what I want with it if these things happened the way they did.

SO!

Rewriting in progress!

It'll be out soon! For sure!

Also, the entire reason I'm posting this right now, instead of when I actually finished the first few chapter, like I was planning, is because I have a question to as you guys.

So, like I think I said, I'm changing some things around, and I was wondering what your opinion is about this certan one. I'm fluctuating between two ages right now, for them to go back to. It'll be either around 5-7, or what I did last time, which is 12, just before the Genin test. I'm honestly fine either way, which is why I'm asking you for your thoughts about it. Anyway, what do you prefer?

Thanks for the help!

If you have any question, and if you want more details, feel as free as a bird to ask!

Bye bye!


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